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Carroll County legislators weigh in on possible death penalty repeal

By CHRISTIAN ALEXANDERSEN Carroll County Times

Updated:
01/10/2013 07:33:21 PM EST

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - While all seven members of the Carroll County Delegations to the Maryland General Assembly have supported the state's death penalty, not all of them are against the possibility of repealing it.

On Wednesday, delegates and senators from around the state met in Annapolis to begin the 90-day legislative session. And although no legislation has been introduced to do it, repealing the state's death penalty has become a hot topic. Some of Carroll's representatives have already decided not to support a repeal, while others are open to the idea.

"I'm in favor of the death penalty," said Sen. David Brinkley, R-District 4. "There are truly monsters amongst us and I think the death penalty needs to be there for those situations."

The death penalty should rarely be applied, Brinkley said. But certain crimes, such as the sniper attacks in 2002, are so heinous that they warrant execution by the state.

Del. Donald Elliott, R-District 4B, agreed.

"In the most egregious cases, the death penalty is the punishment individuals should get," he said.

Del. Justin Ready, R-District 5A, agreed with Elliot and said that the death penalty is appropriate in extreme cases, such as murder and rape. While Ready said he does not support the state using the death penalty "willy-nilly," he does support it and would vote against repealing it.

Eighty-five people have been executed in Maryland since 1923, according to the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services website.

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Of those, 76 were executed by hanging, four by gas chamber and five by lethal injection. The last time a person was executed in Maryland was 2005.

Sen. Joseph Getty, R-District 5, said he's not in favor of a repeal on the death penalty.

"I believe the death penalty is a deterrent and I believe there are some horrendous crimes that are so vicious that the death penalty is exact justice," Getty said.

If a death penalty repeal is proposed, Getty will have a front row seat for the debate as a member of the Senate Judiciary Proceedings Committee. Getty said he will be doing a lot of work on the issue while on the committee, and he does not yet know how he would vote on a repeal.

While she supports the death penalty for people who have committed "heinous" crimes, Del. Susan Krebs, R-District 9B, said she would like to see any repeal legislation before she decides how she's going to vote.

"I want to see what they come up with," Krebs said.

Despite supporting the death penalty, Del. Nancy Stocksdale, R-District 5A, said she also wants to wait to see any legislation repealing it before she makes a judgment. Stocksdale said she would also like to hear from her constituents regarding how they feel about the death penalty.

Sen. Allan Kittleman, R-District 9, has supported the death penalty in the past, but said he has told legislators that he will keep an open mind in regard to a repeal.

Kittleman said he is concerned that if the death penalty is repealed, the worst sentence someone could get would be life in prison without parole. If life in prison without parole is the stiffest penalty in Maryland, Kittleman said criminals could plea bargain to get life in prison, which would allow them to get parole.

"If someone could help me address that issue, I'm willing to sit down and listen," Kittleman said. "I want to make sure when someone says 'life without parole,' it's really going to be that."

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